Powered by Instinct: 5 Rules for Trusting Your Guts [Hardcover]

Kathy Kolbe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2003

What if you had a secret power that could reduce burnout, increase productivity, and improve communication? Would you be intrigued? Furthermore, what if this power could be used in any situation to benefit your life, and you didn’t even have to train yourself to use it? Everyone has such a resource right at their fingertips. It’s called ‘instincts.’ Psychologists have ignored this elusive third part of the mind for over a century, but the influence of instincts-and how to use them to your benefit -is about to be revealed. Powered by Instinct: 5 Rules for Trusting Your Guts is a landmark book by the country’s foremost authority on human instincts, Kathy Kolbe. It will introduce readers to her newest discoveries in the field of human behavior that will transform the way the world thinks about what makes people act they way they do. The book will lay out the accumulating body of evidence that shows that our culture’s focus on the intellect has caused us to stray from innate abilities and the benefits of going with our grain instead of stressing ourselves by trying to change who we are. This hands-on, how-to guide explains an unparalleled approach to work, relationships, learning and enjoying life that provides maximum benefits with no effort on your part to change a single thing about yourself.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

Imagine a society where people have confidence in their hunches, do and say what comes naturally, and don’t pretend to be anything but who they are. If they strike out, they go down swinging, not holding the bat on their shoulders.

I began focusing on these 5 Rules after Columbine highlighted the extreme price of ignoring fears and frustrations. I decided to put them into a book when many people in the Twin Towers paid more attention to the bullhorn than their instincts. Since lives can depend upon trusting our guts, everyone needed a chance to know how to do just that.

This is not a self-improvement book; you already have what it takes. It is about fully developing assets you already own - you’ve just never before been given the users’ manual. It’s a guide for finding the freedom to be yourself, doing things your own way, nurturing the talents of others. It will help you achieve your goals, without being stressed out in the process.

In my consulting and coaching, I’ve seen top performers thrive by seeking opportunities to do what they do best. It’s led to their joy of accomplishment, accolades from others, and their sense of peace and well-being. Without the freedom to be themselves, I’ve witnessed destructive decisions - as has the media.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Monumentus Press; 1 edition (October 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0971799911
• ISBN-13: 978-0971799912
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #650,608 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Harness your hunches with this excellent book, December 28, 2003

By 

Joanna Daneman (Middletown, DE USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Powered by Instinct: 5 Rules for Trusting Your Guts (Hardcover)

Capturing your Instincts

How many times have you looked back over a decision you made and said, "I knew better than to do that! Something in my gut told me not to do it." Oh, I've been there plenty of times. How do we harness that instinct, that gut feel that can guide us on a better path through life? Author Kathy Kolbe has a set of five rules to harness the hunch and a set of "think-ercises" to retrain your behavior. This is brilliant. In fact, this is one of the best self-improvement books I have ever read. I am serious!

The five rules are:

1. Act-before you think (scary!)
2. Self-provoke (stimulate your instincts)
3. Commit, but to very little
4. Be obstinate in overcoming obstacles
5. Do nothing when nothing works (stop beating that head against the wall.)

I am especially impressed with Kolbe's visualization chart of the Creative Process. This is quite different than the creative exercises I learned in the past. Kolbe's process involves charting first motivation, then your inner talents, drives and energy, then your will and its commitment to the goal, followed by the reasoning and rationalization process to justify the action, and finally the behavior. This is not acting WITHOUT thinking; instead it is acting with a follow-through of self-examination that combines your subconscious hunches with rational thought and experiential data.

I also like the question set about instinct when something "feels wrong":
1. Is it the way you are approaching a task?
2. Do you feel you've done something wrong?
3. Are you feeling sick or run-down?
4. Does the way another person responds to you make you uncomfortable?
5. Is there something physically unsafe about your situation?
6. Are you ill at east with the way things are happening?

Look at the above list and look how that applies to so many situations in life. Let's take the decision to ride home with a friend after a party. If your feeling is you shouldn't get in the car, examine if you feel something is unsafe. Perhaps the friend had a few too many drinks. This list would be a good exercise to train teenagers to act on their inner voice of conscience, something to harness their good sense and channel it to better decisions. And of course, this list is essential for looking at your daily work life and perhaps deciding to move on to find other opportunities before you are forced by the situation to do so. This list alone would help you stay ahead of the wave of circumstance.

I think nearly everyone could profit from "Powered by Instinct." If you know someone in the job market or going through a life-changing event, this would make a wonderful gift to him or her-or to yourself.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everyone needs this book, October 23, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Powered by Instinct: 5 Rules for Trusting Your Guts (Hardcover)

If you want to:
1) accomplish more in less time, and with less effort
2) learn to better prioritize your activities
3) reduce your stress, without reducing your productivity

...then this book is for you.

I must admit I'm not a big fan of "self-help" books, but Powered By Instinct is far more substantial than the genre (and the title) suggest. If you're interesed in the subject of "instincts", you might already know that places like IBM, Stanford University, the US Army, etc. having been using Kolbe's research and applying it to solve problems and improve productivity for years (even professional sports teams have used her program).

This book allows the "average person" to apply this research to daily life in areas such as finances, relationships, career, parenting, and education.

Several (high powered professional) friends who have read this book say that it gave them a whole new perspective on their professional and personal lives, and led them to make key decisions with excellent results.

Still, I was skeptical. Not being a big fan of "rules", I doubted that Kolbe's "5 Rules for Trusting Your Guts" would appeal to me. All I can say is that I was completely wrong. Powered by Instinct demonstrates (through Socratic dialogue and hands-on exercises) how to trust your instincts in an intelligent way.

I've always believed that everyone already possesses what they need to succeed (not just financially, but emotionally)-- this book teaches you how to tap your own resources and maximize not only your output, but your sense of well-being. I highly recommend this one.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Rules for Being More Instinctive, October 8, 2003

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 110,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Powered by Instinct: 5 Rules for Trusting Your Guts (Hardcover)

Powered by Instinct was designed by the author to help you:

"Make better decisions in a crisis";
"Never have to worry about someone else controlling your mind";
"Reduce conflicts and improve communication in relationships";
"Increase your effectiveness at work and make better career choices";
"Improve awareness of your personal needs and health considerations";
"Focus on your own and others' natural strengths . . . ."; and
"Discover how to harness the power of your instincts to get more done . . . ."

Five rules are proposed:

1. Act -- before you think.
2. Self-provoke (goad yourself to initiate the action you desire)
3. Commit -- but to very little (to stay focused on what's important)
4. Be obstinate -- in over coming obstacles (never, never give up)
5. Do nothing -- when nothing works (remove mental clutter to reenergize your instincts).

Each rule is followed by extensive exercises to help you understand how to apply it. That's helpful because only the first rule seems to draw on instinct.

The book is framed around the perspective of Ms. Kolbe's proprietary research into the patterns of instinctive thinking and action.

Ever since I was a young consultant, I have run into people who told me that they wanted to do no analysis . . . just trust their gut instincts. I had always wondered how that approach, so strong in so many people, could be sharpened to achieve better results. Ms. Kolbe's book provides many ways that those who want to rely on gut instincts can consider their effectiveness. For example, in doing the exercises, I was struck that in making financial decisions I almost always make the wrong decision when I trust my instincts. I was aware of that before reading this book, but I'm really sure that I won't do that again.

The book's format is developed around a Socratic dialogue with a hypothetical seat companion on an airplane. Having seen that was the format, I waited until my next airline flight to read the book. For me, though, the format didn't work very well. I couldn't understand most of the points the author was making because of language ambiguities without reading the notes in the back. The notes mostly referred to her own research so I got more of the same language issues. It also broke the spell of the Socratic dialogue. Then the book dived into a detailed discussion of the Kolbe Indexes. Naturally, I couldn't look that up on-line while on the airplane. When I landed, I immediately did . . . and found that it would cost about double the price of the book to have my instinct pattern profiled. I decided not to do it. The discussion of Ms. Kolbe's pattern and those of her seat companion left me unenlightened. Perhaps that is because I both prefer to both start with research and to launch off into uncharted territory . . . depending on the nature of the problem.

Of the five rules, the last four seem consistent with most self-help books I have read. It was only the first rule that was new to me. My own work with the exercises made me realize that instinct has only worked reliably for me when I have been in crisis situations (such as a hotel fire). So I don't think I'll be following that rule for most situations. I will, however, listen to my instincts to think about what they are trying to tell me when time allows.

Actually, I understood this book's premise better after reading another book, How Customers Think, which relates how the unconscious mind dominates decisions and actions . . . and functions much faster than the conscious, rational mind. If you want to understand the underpinnings of this book, I suggest that you read that one as well.

Having not found the book to be very relevant personally, I graded it as a three star. I do think that people who like to always go with their gut instinct without reflection will think this is a five star book. I also think that people who operate that way will be helped by the exercises. Be sure to do them.

As for the writing style, you will want to consider that you will be learning a lot of new terms. Conation is the most important one. Here's the definition: "Action derived from instinct; purposeful mode of striving, volition." I was immediately puzzled why it wasn't appropriate to just say "instinctive action" or "instinctive behavior." Conation and the many other terms introduced in the book just made the material less instinctive for me.

After you finish this book, I suggest that you pick out an area where you are having trouble making decisions . . . and fast action is required. How can you get in touch with your instincts to help you clear away some of the bad choices . . . and make better ones?